One Lane helps Warhawks make inroad into Arkansas

Mitch Lane left his home state four years ago, bound for a struggling football program less than three hours south of his hometown as an unheralded recruit overshadowed by a high school teammate.

Not many in the Sun Belt Conference outshine Lane now.

Lane, a 2010 graduate of Watson Chapel High School in Pine Bluff, was one of two player representatives for Louisiana-Monroe at the Sun Belt football media day last week in New Orleans. He was named a first-team preseason all-conference selection and will enter his senior season with the Warhawks as one of the conference's most accomplished defensive players.

Lane, 6-1, 215, has started 31 career games after redshirting in 2011 and his 91 tackles last season were the second-most among returning defensive backs in the Sun Belt.

Louisiana-Monroe Coach Todd Berry said he thinks there's more for Lane, and NFL scouts have told the Warhawks staff he could be a "top three round guy" in next spring's NFL Draft.

"He's the full package," Berry said.

Berry said he expected Lane's development, even while making the point that projecting a high school player's career arc is difficult. At the time Lane signed in 2011, his Watson Chapel teammate, Kyle Coleman, was a more heralded prospect. Coleman had more reported scholarship offers and was rated by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit, while Lane had two stars. Coleman started his career at ASU and is now at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Berry said he always had confidence in Lane.

"Recruiting is a very, very inexact science," Berry said. "But when Mitch signed with us, we all thought at that point in time, we had exactly what we needed."

So much so, Berry said, the Warhawks backed off on signing safeties the next year, knowing Lane would fall right into line.

He started the first seven games as a freshman in 2012 -- he made 5 1/2 tackles in the Warhawks' 34-31 upset over Arkansas in Little Rock -- before missing the final five games with an injury. He has started every game the past two seasons.

Lane said he's aware of what scouts have told Berry regarding his draft possibilities, but he said he tries not to think about them too much just yet.

"It crosses my mind every now and then," he said. "But I try not to let it take over my mind and have me playing scared so I can have a chance to play at the next level. Whatever happens, it just happens."

Lane credits part of his development to a group of teammates who are also from Arkansas -- wide receiver Ajalen Holley of Hot Springs Lakeside, linebacker Hunter Kissinger of Springdale Har-Ber and linebackers Cody Robinson of Des Arc and Michael Johnson of Little Rock Parkview.

Holley and Kissinger are second-team preseason All-Sun Belt selections, and Berry said Robinson and Johnson could have also earned a preseason honors.

"I can really consider those guys like my brothers," Lane said. "We knew we had that common bond. So to play with those guys, to get to know them like I get to know them now, makes it so much better, much easier."

Why so many Arkansans in Louisiana?

Berry said Louisiana-Monroe's $12 million athletic budget, lowest among football-playing Sun Belt schools according to USA Today, restricts how far the Warhawks can go in their pursuit of players.

"We don't have the money to fly somewhere and recruit, or fly somebody in," Berry said. "So consequently, it had to be within driving distance, thusly, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas have been really significant to us in recruiting."

It worked out well for Lane, too.

"It went by fast, but it's been a great journey," Lane said. "We still have a long way to go. I feel like this is going to be a great season with the bond that we have."

Sports on 07/28/2015